As his detractors and arms of the media level at him their weapons of hatred in a campaign to destroy his character and credibility with voters, seizing the opportunities of which perhaps he himself is a prime architect, will Boris Johnson be able to survive as Prime Minister? Or is he able to capitalise on his successes, making necessary changes and restoring popular and party support by steering through the Covid Omicron drama and maintaining economic progress?
The Tories having lost the North Shropshire by-election to the Liberal party, squandering a 23,000 majority, has put Boris Johnson in “the last chance saloon” according to certain Conservative MPs. A massive protest vote was no surprise as the reason for the election was the resignation as sitting MP of Owen Paterson in a car crash of poor judgement by the Prime Minister. Mr Paterson has been found guilty of a breach of parliamentary standards and it appears Boris Johnson sought to save him by delaying at least his suspension as an MP under the guise of improving the natural justice of the process which caught him. For weeks this saga was allowed to grow into a sleaze campaign questioning the propriety of MPs having other paid jobs, and the conflict of interest which an MP has while being paid by a third party and lobbying on that person’s behalf. Such a conflict is obviously inappropriate. That Boris Johnson allowed his enemies to use this event to create a pantomime of so-called sleaze to the detriment of the entire Conservative party as well as himself displayed extraordinary carelessness on his part, a car crash as he described it himself with hindsight, totally avoidable. Did he ignore good advice to let Owen Paterson take his punishment, or was he poorly advised, or does he now lack enough wisdom around him to challenge and steer him away from his natural instincts?
This followed on the heels of about 100 of his own Conservative MPs opposing certain new Covid restrictions in the form of vaccine passports as anti-freedom. Some may have vented opposition for other reasons, but it is clear his level of support has been seriously undermined.
TRUST IN FIGHTING THE PANDEMIC AT STAKE
It must be remembered that not since the second world war has a UK government faced challenges of a scale and difficulty as confront Boris Johnson, his Ministers and the public services.
UK Government has had some success and public sympathy in the fight against the pandemic: particularly as the UK led the world on vaccine roll out and, despite much foreign scepticism and domestic political criticism of the lifting of restrictions last summer, has proved perhaps to have taken sensible risk management judgements in 2021. But Omicron presents new challenges.
The Government’s ability to meet the challenges and keep the public supportive is undermined by a further unnecessary dramatization and overplay of the alleged Christmas parties that may have taken place in Whitehall around Christmas 2020. This saga has undoubtedly been used to pour more scorn on the integrity of Government with the narrative that they make tough Covid rules for the populace while ignoring them themselves. Easy pickings for a hostile media. The Prime Minister’s assertions that no rules were broken are too easy to depict as lies or disregard for complete transparency for enemies sworn to bring him down. It remains unknown the degree to which he himself knew of or condoned or turned a Nelsonian eye to breaches of rules, if there were any. It would be perhaps painfully sad if the PM of the UK were to be concerned last Christmas with policing events at work which would surely be the task of the executive. But the BBC for one have featured the Christmas party stories as scandal of the century on countless hours of news programmes, with the like of the Ros Atkins almost smirking as this outrage dominated his daily monotone on Outside Source. The engagement of the PM himself in a simple Zoom type work quiz seems to have excited Labour party leaders, broadcasters and editors of supposedly serious newspapers alike: but again, it has fed the cumulative story of a government which lacks respect for the people. That journalists seem able to link people dying of Covid and the grief of those left behind with the Christmas Party circus defies honest appraisal. And then of course the raking over of the flat refurbishment, the PM having allegedly misled Lord Geidt.
Now however the urgent need to accelerate the vaccine boosters and vaccination generally is the vital focus to mitigate the effects of the extra infectious Omicron strain, and the political motivation of the Boris Johnson “misojohnists” is to undermine the efficacy of the Government message through the Christmas Party story and reinforce an image of chaos.
MISOJOHNY
If it is true that Boris Johnson deliberately lies to the British people and is a serial liar as it suits him, then surely he must go? If it is true that Boris Johnson is totally incompetent and out of control, then surely he must go? If he has lost the trust of the public then perhaps he must go?
What has been said about him and by whom? Of course, his direct political opponents grab every suggestion of error or impropriety that can expressly or impliedly be laid at his door. Unsurprisingly the likes of Dominic Cummings and Theresa May do the same, as the slighted seek revenge. Some news presenters, particularly at the BBC, may do the same. Many journalists have, with quite extreme language, summoned up the spite:
Matthew Parris in the Times for years has expressed his disapproval of the PM, particularly his morality, in varying degrees and on 11 December he had a field day “a charlatan, and “for Johnson it’s over”, “A moral toad crouching at the heart of the British establishment”, “first instinct is to fib. His second is to tip someone into the slurry”. He clearly hates the man. Does that cloud his approach? But Janice Turner in the same Times decries the micromanaging new restrictions against Omicron saying, “who cares what he (BJ) says anymore?” and Camilla Long in the Sunday Times of 12 December, judging the immorality of the Prime Minister as evidenced by the fact of his three marriages says “Britain, a broken Johnson wife, cheated on and fed a string of lies and excuses”. She cites the Afghan withdrawal debacle, gold wallpaper and other “offensive tat” bought by donors, and a lightweight, petty, government of gimps. And the Guardian of 11 December had numerous journalists quoting unnamed sources such as a former Tory No 10 adviser “He’s an agent of chaos and he’s no f****** good at anything”. A former aide says, “got an interesting relationship with the truth”.
The daily barrage is perhaps designed to create an image, whether true or not, that starts to become fact. The media are in a feeding frenzy.
CAN HE CHANGE AND CAN HE BE TRUSTED?
Boris Johnson has made errors but also has achievements. Die-hard Europhiles hate him for it, but Brexit has happened, with things still to resolve, especially Northern Ireland as the UK battles against the British hater “OMacron” as well as Omicron. Vaccination may still be a saviour. While the Johnson political manifesto of the last election is off course, most people perhaps recognise the transformative event that is the pandemic and its financial as well as health effect on the UK: but the economy with antivirus success can recover, and it has been doing so at a fast rate relative to other major countries.
Every Government in the world is struggling with the pandemic. Getting people to live with it is a mammoth task. Boris Johnson must read popular sentiment and react, as well as Parliamentary moods. Things must get implemented. His strength as Mayor of London partly rested on having strong advisers and doers around him. As Prime Minister he now lacks strong advisers, and many of his ex-helpers. now betray him, perhaps, they would say, fairly. Without new strong individuals to support and challenge him in Government, failure may be unavoidable.
Implementing things that make a difference to lives and being seen to, will matter. But Kate Bingham pointed out, in unwavering criticism, the weaknesses of the Civil Service, its lack of modern skills, its groupthink: only a private sector can-do approach worked to deliver the vaccine programme. Recently Senior Civil Service leaders have admitted change is needed. The NHS and other healthcare services, as well as the Civil Service, without a culture of innovation or rapid decision making, but imbued with one of self-preservation and reluctance to change, have struggled. Reform of public healthcare is essential. Their slowness and lack of urgency bringing new antivirals on is a health service implementation issue not a UKGOV failure. Defence procurement has shown itself to be in urgent need of reform with a report bewailing the senior decision makers’ failures in the disaster which is the Ajax programme for a new armoured tank. And perhaps as some have suggested it is the inexperience and naivety of Downing Street workers which has fomented the wretched Christmas Party distraction. Do new leaders from industry have to get involved in delivering the programmes for Government.
Is Boris Johnson so incompetent or morally flawed or both that nothing can save him? He needs to make big decisions. If a new lockdown is one of them, then it will be known he cannot change and take control. He needs help, and his optimism is needed. Will the UK give him enough time for redemption? And is redemption possible? Is the public fed up with the pettiness of media scandal promotion over the big issues of making ends meet and improving quality of life? If Boris Johnson can rise above the sleaze, he may have a chance.
